Paternal and Maternal Lineage Testing

Y-STR Male Lineage Testing

Male Lineage, or Y-STR, Testing is a DNA test that specifically examines the Y chromosome present only in males. This test is useful in determining relatedness through male lineage, although it may be more useful in disproving relationship.

Here’s How Lineage is Determined
To determine if male participants share the same paternal lineage, the participants must share or suspect that they share a relative from whom they have descended along the same line of males.

For example:

If two males want to determine whether they are true cousins, their fathers must be brothers who share the same father.

If the male lineage descends from the same male ancestor, the Y chromosome profile obtained through testing will be identical between the two potential male cousins, proving that they likely come from the same male lineage. If participants do not have the same Y chromosome profile, they do not share male lineage.

While Y-STR Testing is a useful tool to examine male lineage, it does not determine the specific relationship between two males sharing the same male lineage.

Y-STR Testing can exclude males from a male lineage, and this can often be important information.

For example:

If an alleged father is not available for testing with a male child, his brother (child’s uncle who shares the same father as the alleged father) or his father (child’s paternal grandfather) may be tested.

If the child’s uncle or paternal grandfather yield Y-STR profiles that do not match the male child, then the alleged father is most likely not the biological father.

Mitochondrial (mtDNA) Female Lineage Testing

GenQuest also offers Mitochondrial DNA Testing.
mtDNA Tests are used to determine relatedness through female lineage to help identify maternally-linked relationships. Unlike with Y-STR male lineage tests, participants in mtDNA Tests can be male or female participants who suspect that they share a relative through a maternal line.

Mitochondrial DNA is passed onto children of both sexes through the mother.
In a mtDNA comparison, analysts examine the sequence of each participant side by side.
If certain regions along the mtDNA sequence is shared, this indicates that the participants share a common female ancestor through their maternal heritage, such as a mother or maternal grandmother.

As with Y-STR Testing, mtDNA Tests do not determine the specific relationship between participants, but rather are useful in proving a shared female ancester along the maternal line.

GenQuest DNA Laboratory

An AABB Accredited DNA Laboratory Headquartered in Sparks, NVServing the World Since 1990

Lineage Testing Differs From Ancestry Testing

Ancestry Testing traces DNA back through several thousands of years to determine racial heritage and potential relatives listed within a company’s ancestry system.